Dakgalbi (Korean Spicy Chicken) [DF]

In 2011, I studied in Korea during the summer (another recipe inspired by that stay here). I stayed at Hallym University, which is in Chuncheon. Chuncheon is famous for their spicy chicken, called dakgalbi. They had many dakgalbi restaurants where that was all they served. You walked in, sat down, they counted everyone and brought enough food. This spicy chicken was pretty serious on level of spicy and we might have let a tear slip out a time or two. It’s definitely one of those “hurts so good” feelings. We ordered a lot of soda, and the bubbles on our tongues helped soothe the spice a little bit. Leaving with a full belly and tingly lips was how you knew you had a good time.

Even though I’m not usually a spicy
food person, there’s something about the deep curry and sweet
flavors in this chicken that I can’t stay away from. I think my
recipe was adapted originally from Beyond Kimchee. I had posted it on
my old blog, but after reviewing it and saw what kind of recipe I
left there (not a very great one), I thought I’d re-up it here.

One thing they often did in Korea, was
add rice, nori (toasted seaweed) and sesame seeds at the end, and
boom! You had fried rice. Some even used ramen!

Local Spotlight: I went to Nam Hai International Market to get my sweet potatoes and gochujang!